Seawall Fast Walk South Side of Falsecreek

This event is created to introduce to people how to use walking to improve or maintain their overall health. We will walk several times a week at a moderate pace for a distance of about 11 K in about 1.5 hours to 2 hours. We will start at 5:45pm sharp. Depending on who shows up the group will be divided into three groups. The first group is a slower paced group for beginners. The second group is for people who would like to do it at a moderate pace. And the last group is for people who want to walk at a quicker pace. We will try to accommodate everyone, so please put in your comments, the pace that you would like to walk. In case you get separated or you would like to walk on your own: click here for a map of the route.

Who am I?

My name is Michael and I've been organizing "Fast Walks" and many other walking events since 2007. Currently I also organize hikes for several Meetup groups so I can answer all your questions whether it relates to walking or hiking. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about walking or conditioning for hiking. My goal is to get as many people to be active as possible in a safe manner.

Why Walking?

Walking is a great way to improve or maintain your overall health. Walking can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power and endurance. It can reduce your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers. Unlike some other forms of exercise, walking is free and doesn’t require any special equipment or training. All you need is a good pair of walking shoes but make sure your shoes are comfortable, with appropriate heel and arch supports.

Which Group Should I Choose?

Before you join a group you may want to build a base level for walking. Start slowly and gradually. You may want to start with a time that is comfortable. For example, 10 minutes or what you feel is comfortable for you. Just go out somewhere close to home and walk for 10 minutes and see how you feel. You should be able to walk comfortably and walk without breathing hard. Use the "talk test". If you can talk while walking you are walking comfortably. If you can't, just slow your pace and continue walking when your breathing comes back to normal. Continue adding minutes and before you know it, you will be walking 60 minutes.

During the walks you can also start adding a little intensity to your walks, that is walking at a faster pace. Use the following method, walk fast for seconds, then walk for a few minutes until your breathing becomes normal and repeat. Do this a few times during your walk and continue increasing the time for walking fast. How fast? As fast as you feel comfortable. By adding some intensity into your walks, you will burn more calories and use walking to lose and maintain your weight. By walking faster you will walk farther in a shorter time period

You should aim to walk five times a week. This is just asking for a hour of your time per week. As you increase the time of your walk, you may want to reduce it to three times a week. Just listen to your body and let your body help decide what is right for you. The main thing is to get out and walk and be active. You have to train your body to walk consistently and make it a habit. You can't do this if you only decide to walk once a week or when you feel like it. This is the same if you want to learn how to run, do weight training or any other sports.

When you can walk comfortably for 60 minutes, you can join any of the groups. Don't be too quick to jump into a faster group as walking too fast when you not ready for it will result in injuries and a lot of pain. It's always better to learn to walk at a pace that is comfortable for you. Don't subscribe to the philosophy of "No Pain No Gain". You goal is use walking to improve and maintain your health for the rest of your life. How can exercise be fun if you are struggling to keep up and hobbling around in pain the day after.

Route Details:

We will walk from Science World and pass through Olympic Village. We will pass under the Cambie St, Granville St, and Burrard Street Bridge and end up at the water fountain at Kits Beach. We will take a break here and then retrace our steps back to Science World.

Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes, including a 5 minute washroom break at the halfway point.

There is ample parking along Quebec Street and the side streets. Most of us are parking along First Avenue because there is always parking there and also to avoid the traffic whenever there's a Canuck's game. So if you happen to park on Second or First Avenue, a few of us will be walking back to our cars. Also, please post your location and we'll see if we can carpool. Buses and Skytrain accessible.

We will meet and wait a few minutes and start at 5:45pm SHARP and meet at the entrance to SCIENCE WORLD.

We're about:

We are a group of fun and enthusiastic walkers scattered across the Greater Vancouver area who love to exercise and socialize. The organizer, the assistant organizers, and the event hosts are all volunteers. No-one pays us to do this - we just enjoy walking and enjoy sharing our knowledge about places with other people.

Your event organizers spend time and effort describing the walks as completely as possible, so please take the time to read the event description carefully, and maybe re-read it just before the walk so you'll know everything you need to know.

Our walks can be anywhere in the Lower Mainland area, depending on where the organizer of the particular walk ("event") has decided to go. To see where we've walked, check out the list of our past walks, with clickable links to the details about each one.

Some of our walks begin after a 15-minute catch-up time for those who cannot make it to the posted start time. Please read the description carefully to see if it is one of those or not.

If your plans change, please change your RSVP. You can do that any time up to the start of the walk. All walks will take place rain or shine, unless otherwise stated in the event description.

The walks may be round trip walks, which return to the starting point, or they may be "one-way" walks. If you have arrived by public transportation at the starting point, the "one-way" walks will be no problem for you, but if you have arrived by car at the starting point, you will either need to take public transportation back to the starting point, or make prior arrangements with at least one other driver to leave one car at the end point and carpool back to the starting point together.

There is no obligation to attend our walks regularly. Some of our group members are "fair weather walkers" and only enjoy walking when the sun is shining. Some members may decide to take a year or even two off from our group. Come only when you want to.

All of our walks are free of charge. The organizer pays $9.00/month to the Meetup organization, and she's happy to do it. If you want to show her your appreciation of this, you can buy her a cup of coffee once or twice.

If you have an idea for a walk, please post it on the discussion board. If you are interested in leading a walk of your own, we suggest that you come along on at least a couple of our walks so you can get a feel for our "style". Then let the organizer know and she will more than likely make you an event organizer.

All types of people are welcome to join us on our walks. Your ethnic group, religious background, gender, marital status, job, make no difference to us, and all ages are welcome, as well. Of course we hope anyone needing assistance will come with someone who will look out for them and help them as need be. Your organizers are not trained to help people with disabilities nor to look after children.

Here are some of the different types of walks we have:

Weekend walks, which tend to be longer and paced at a normal walking pace. These are exploration walks, where you will see some areas of the Lower Mainland that you might not have seen before.

Evening repeating fast walks, which are very fast paced - for a nice low-impact work-out. These tend to be in the same area every time, so you always know what you're going to get.

Weekday repeating walks, for folks who do not have a 9-5 work schedule. These tend to be a smaller group, and the walks are not as long as the weekend walks. The pace is a normal walking pace.

If you have questions about a particular walk that has been posted, please contact that event host, whose name will be labelled as such on the RSVP list. If you have questions about the group in general, please contact the main organizer.

Legal disclaimer: When you click "Yes" on your RSVP, you, the reader, acknowledge that participation in The Vancouver Walking Meetup events/activities carries with it inherent risks including, but not limited to, the risk of injury. And you, the reader, freely accept and fully assume all such risk(s). It is the participant's individual responsibility to verify that they are in good health and are physically capable of carrying out the activity or any events/activities organized by The Vancouver Walking Meetup. Therefore, in consideration of being allowed to participate, individuals release the Vancouver Walking Meetup, and its event organizers, and members from all liability in respect of any personal injury suffered, any damage or loss of personal property, which may arise out of participation in any Vancouver Walking Meetup events/activities.